Recently someone turned me on to a post by data expert Joe Bugajski entitled the Data Model that Nearly Killed Me.
The article is marvelously written, and meticiously detailed. He actually has a chart where he chronicals his pain level, repeated histories, medications and location.
I am always impressed by the level of analysis that the average geek can bring to a healthcare IT situation.
The problem is that while Joe is familiar with Data Models, he is not familiar with Healthcare IT. I can tell you that none of his recommendations are actually practical. Mostly because they are top-down oriented, which is the right way to view a data model, but the wrong way to think about Health IT.
Joe has not yet familiar with the under-water portion of the iceburg that he has run into. I have been trying to fix the problems he is experiencing for years and I can assure you, they are much harder than even he thinks. However, most of the problems are not technical, but political in nature.
Joes take makes a good read.
-FT